Meaning & Origins

One of several Anglicized forms of the Gaelic name Eithne. In the case of Queen Victoria's granddaughter Princess Ena (Victoria Eugénie Julia Ena, 1887–1969) it had a different origin: it was a misreading by the minister who baptized her off a handwritten note of the originally intended name Eva. In England, the name is remembered principally as that of the fearsome Ena Sharples in the television soap opera Coronation Street. See also Ina.